


On Names

by RosieTarnation



Category: The Prom (2020), The Prom - Sklar/Beguelin/Martin
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-18
Updated: 2021-01-18
Packaged: 2021-03-16 22:42:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,495
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28838715
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RosieTarnation/pseuds/RosieTarnation
Summary: On a lazy morning in, Emma and Alyssa have a wedding to plan.  Alyssa's got a few ideas regarding names, too.
Relationships: Alyssa Greene/Emma Nolan
Comments: 9
Kudos: 26





	On Names

“I can’t wait to marry you,” Emma said softly, still not entirely awake. The sun was streaming in through the window and neither of them had anywhere they had to be that day.

Alyssa wasn’t entire awake either, just awake enough to let her fiancée slip her arm under her shoulders and let her own head rest on Emma’s chest. She loved this, this half-asleep, half-awake, entirely there with Emma way of lounging about, just being in the same space together. She loved the quiet with her, the way they could stay in bed and time would fly by and Alyssa never once felt any pressure to do something more or be something else or to accomplish something - she could just _be,_ finally.

She figured being in a relationship for ten years had that effect on a person. Now that they were older, now that they were out of Edgewater and they were free and comfortable and open, Alyssa couldn’t believe her luck in finding someone like Emma so young. Everything in high school felt like it would never end and it would always be that bad, and one day they woke up together in New York and realized things were great, they made it through. And they could get through anything.

“I could lie here forever, Em,” Alyssa said, turning her head and kissing her shoulder. Her voice was low, too, sleepy and dehydrated.

Emma smiled, holding her a little tighter. Asking Alyssa to marry her was the best thing she’d ever done and she still sometimes couldn’t believe that she’d found this, this family and this love.

So what if she told Alyssa every morning for the past month that they’ve been engaged that she couldn’t wait to marry her?

“Though maybe we should start planning,” Alyssa continued.

“Okay, how’s tomorrow?”

‘I’m serious, Emma,” Alyssa said, nudging her a bit with her elbow. “I know we’re not doing anything big we do have to have a date set so we can tell everyone when to be in town.”

“I know, I know,” Emma said. She kissed Alyssa’s head, loving the way her curls tickled her face. “How much notice do you think everyone needs because, really, I-?”

“Can’t wait to marry me? I’ve heard,” Alyssa smirked. “I can’t wait, either. But you know Grandma Betsy isn’t leaving Florida unless there’s a very good reason and everyone else needs time to give work notice to be here.”

Emma laughed. As soon as she left Indiana, her grandmother left, too, and neither of them looked back. She and Alyssa went down to Florida to see Betsy at least twice a year and Emma knew that Betsy only stayed in Indiana so long because Emma needed her. Emma still felt a bit bad asking her to travel or come up to her – she’d done so much for Emma, Emma wanted her life to be as comfortable and relaxed as possible.

As for everyone else, they both knew that they could call Alyssa’s mom and Barry and tell them they were getting married in an hour, and they’d both find a way there and manage to pick up floral arrangements on the way. And the rest of the actors wouldn't be far behind, though Trent was still teaching in Indiana, Angie was leading a Broadway show, and Dee Dee was teaching workshops while Mr. Hawkins worked as a principal in Brooklyn.

“How’s…” Emma began, thinking of a random date that was far enough away but not too far. “November…fifteenth?”

“Is that even a weekend?”

Emma shrugged. “I don’t know. We’d probably get a good deal if it’s not, though.”

Alyssa cocked her head a bit, seeing the sense in that.

“And, it’s a good excuse to keep it small,” Emma said, knowing while her half of the guest list was pretty short, Alyssa’s could get pretty long if she started invited colleagues and college friends and law school friends. And, while she liked her friends, she didn’t want a big wedding – neither of them did. “We could get married on some random weekday, and if we want to have a big party for extended family and friends we can later.”

“Okay,” Alyssa said, looking right at her and smiling. “November fifteenth it is.”

Emma smiled wide back.

“So, let’s talk about names,” Alyssa continued, settling back against Emma and looking at the ceiling.

“Right,” Emma said. “I’m down with a hyphen, Nolan-Greene sounds pretty good. Greene-Nolan too, actually; that sounds a bit more, I don’t know, dignified?”

“I don’t want to keep Greene,” Alyssa said.

“Oh.” Emma looked at her, but Alyssa was still looking at the ceiling. She looked content, though, resolute. “Okay.”

“My mom’s maiden name was Hill,” Alyssa said. “She’s my family, not my father. I want her name.”

She finally looked over at Emma, trying to see what she thought.

“So how does that sound?” she asked. “Hill-Nolan? Or Nolan-Hill?”

“I think,” Emma began, smiling wide. “I’d be honored to be a Hill-Nolan with you.”

“Yeah?”

“Alyssa, of course.”

“I think I want to ask my mom if she wants to change hers, too,” Alyssa said. “Or at least ask if she’s okay with me using it. There’s no reason for us to be Greene’s, to carry that man’s name around when we have a perfectly good name of our own.”

“Have you been thinking about this for a while?”

“Yeah,” Alyssa admitted. “Sort of. I think I always assumed I’d change my name when I got married because the Greene name isn’t all that great, but now that we’re really getting married, it really hit me, the importance of names, you know? My mom hasn’t seen my dad in like fifteen years and that entire town still calls her Mrs. Greene. I don’t think it’s occurred to her that it can change back, that we don’t have to be Greene’s just because he was.”

Emma nodded. She understood. “Yeah, that’s heavy. The Greene name is great though, because you’re great. And your mom, too, you’re both better than your dad ever was.”

“I know,” Alyssa said, giving her an appreciative smile. “I think it’s a good new start, though. For the rest of my life, my name is going to be tied to yours and I don’t want us to be tied to him and all that shit back home. Being Alyssa Greene, being the Greene’s, it was tied up in a whole lot of pressure and hiding and drama and we’re past all that.”

She remembered hearing her name called by debate competition moderators, by teachers, by coaches, by club supervisors, by all sorts of people who knew her name and knew her accomplishments and didn’t really know her. 

She remembered years of hearing her mom be called “Mrs. Greene” by people who knew her just as Alyssa’s mom who was running the PTA, just as that awful woman from the news, just as the impeccably-dressed woman on real estate signs all over the greater Edgewater area, just as the woman whose husband left and everyone knew it but was never seen without her wedding ring.

She didn’t wear the ring anymore, she was going more by her first name, but, still. 

They were all such different people than they were back in Edgewater. They felt like family more than ever but Alyssa didn’t feel like a Greene anymore and she guessed that, if she asked her mom, she didn’t, either. Alyssa looked it up already, the process to change a name away from a married name in Indiana wasn't that complicated. In fact, she already had the forms saved on her computer, along with the name of a lawyer near her mom who could help, just waiting for Alyssa to be ready to send them.

“I’m really proud of you,” Emma said. She knew figuring out your identity was hard and she was so in awe of all the work Alyssa’s done to figure hers out.

Alyssa relaxed further onto her, curling up against her side and loving how at home she felt.

“So, if we’re all changing our names anyway,” Alyssa said. “You want to keep Nolan?” She asked this gently and without judgment – they didn’t talk about Emma’s parents much, because Emma didn’t have much more to say about them. But Alyssa knew that if she was going to start talking about shitty parents, Emma certainly had a spot in that conversation.

“Oh, yeah,” Emma said. “I’ve thought about it a lot, too, and my parents kicked me out, right? They wanted me out of the family but I’ve still got this name, and it’s mine. They can’t take that. I’m a Nolan whether they like it or not.”

“For the record, I really like it,” Alyssa said.

“Yeah? How much?”

Alyssa turned over so now she was on Emma and Emma’s smirk about killed her. She lowered her face to Emma’s and set about showing her.

**Author's Note:**

> It got me, especially in the movie, how we know Alyssa's dad isn't around but everyone still calls her mom "Mrs. Greene". It really hit me with how much pressure Alyssa is under to be Alyssa Greene TM, and I think her mom has similar pressures (granted many of which are self-imposed) and thinking about that led to this. Veronica doesn't show up in this fic but I think this fic is set so far into the future that 1) Alyssa can better contextualize and understand and recover from her childhood and 2) Veronica has calmed down a lot. Basically everyone's in a much better place in this fic and I wanted to explore how being in a much better place can shape identity. 
> 
> Also I don't think Veronica's name in any sense (actual first name (I'm just using Veronica because that seems to be what people collectively decided on in fic/fandom) and maiden name) actually comes up in the show or movie but if it did and I missed it, someone please let me know!
> 
> And I did want to explore a bit how Emma sees her own identity but I think she's so self-assured and unwavering that literally the only reason she'd change her name is to add Alyssa's.
> 
> Anyway. Please let me know what you think! Thanks! :]
> 
> **One more thing!!! I'd be remiss to make a story about changing names and not acknowledge the many unjust hurdles our trans siblings face in changing their names. There's a lot of reasons for people to change their names and it should be an easy, affordable process for everyone but our trans siblings have an especially tough, stigmatized time. If you're reading this, please do something to help out, whether its donating money if you can (the Transgender Law Center has a lot of resources for name changes and other legal issues for trans people, or obviously the Unruly Heart Initiative's orgs help a lot of LGBTQ+ folks generally) or donating time. A really important and easy act is to also talk about it! Talk about it with your government representatives and your peers, know what the hurdles are for people in your area and speak out against them!


End file.
